Hello everybody,

So we’re finally here, one month to the pub date for The Battle Within. It’s been a long trip to get here and I thank everyone for their continued support. Some details as we head into the final stretch:

The books have been printed and advance copies have been mailed to a number of media outlets. Over the next few weeks, the books will be mailed to backers and those who’ve pre-ordered, although you may get an e-book as early as next week.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to marry up with the books so I could sign them without affecting the launch date. In place of signed books, Inkshares designed and developed themed bookmarks, all of which have been personally signed and which will come with the books. As nice as the bookmarks are (and Inkshares did a great job), I recognize they’re not the same thing as a signed book, so please know I’ll make myself available for signatures as much as I can. There will clearly be some logistics to sort out, but please just get in touch with me directly and I’ll see what I can figure out. On that note:

24 June 17:  Book Launch Party, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm at Perfect Books (www.perfectbooks.ca), located at 258A Elgin Street, Ottawa. This would be a great opportunity to get a book signed and also take in downtown Ottawa as it readies for the 150th birthday celebrations the week after.

27 Jun 17: The publication date.

The last thing I’d offer is that I hope you enjoy the book. All of you made this possible and after nearly a year of production following the crowdfunding campaign, I hope you’ll find that it was worth the wait.

Thank you again and all the best,

Alastair Luft 

Campers!

I’m working on sending a personalized update to everyone who preordered Sunshine is Forever! It’s gonna take a few days-there are over 700 of you...in the meantime, I’ve launched an Inkshares page for my next book-KARID. If you’d head to this link and click FOLLOW that would be awesome. Oh yeah, and you can read the first chapter! I won’t be funding this book until after Sunshine is Forever is out, but I’ve loved my experience with Inkshares, and unless something changes, my plan is to publish my next book with them as well.

https://www.inkshares.com/books/karid

Thanks for the support!

Kyle T. Cowan

Like the Little Engine That Could we are still chugging along in the Nerdist SciFi Contest. Currently in 6th place (but all it would take is a small group of you to push us into 3rd tonight!). 

This is the second part of a deeper look into the world of Crow’s Gambit. Airpower has played a major role in militaries for a hundred years. However, after Net-Day the world’s air forces were either destroyed or grounded. While some limited, and risky, drone activity is possible weapons systems have shifted back to projectile (kinetic) weapons. In light of the economic chaos countries around the world shut down their air forces. In the United States the Department of the Air Force joined NASA and the FAA in being mothballed and dismantled. 

The new currency for political and military might in the world is naval power focused on surface ships and submarines. The U.S. Navy has grown in size and influence to dominate the military industrial complex and the offices of political power in Washington D.C. 

Thank you again for your support of the story. More to come...

PT

Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

Hello, readers! Just a quick reminder that my next project, 1000 Faces, is competing to win the Nerdist Sci-Fi contest.  

In a paranoid near-future where every private part of the internet is public, people hide their identities behind digital masks. Desperate for intimacy in this impersonal world, a mask designer risks everything to feel close to another human being.

Sounds cool, right? As with other Inkshares contests, the top 3 projects get a full publishing deal. I’m currently in 4th place and need your help to get a strong position in the top 3.  

Preorder today :)

~ Jenny

https://www.inkshares.com/books/1000-faces

thank you! Thank you!! Thank You!!!

After one full week of the Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest, Mission 51 is sitting in First Place! That is fantastic!

I am sincerely grateful for the outpouring of support for me and Mission 51 this past week. The whole thing is a bit scary. It’s scary just putting the story out there. It’s scary asking for pre-orders. It’s even scary being in 1st place. And believe me, I’m not the scary sort. This is just way different than anything I do in my usual life.

I do feel very good about the book. It has a fun feel, with serious undertones. The historical fiction side includes plenty of real people, places, and things. My hope is that readers want to check  Wikipedia and other sources frequently while reading the book, to get a better and better feel for Mat’s world in 1954-1969. It has a lot of fun detail.

I’m proud of the "Staff Pick" and the "The Great Sci-Fi for the 21st Century and Beyond Syndicate" badges. It’s also humbling and cool to read the great recommendations Mission 51 has garnered. I’m grateful for it all!

There are still five weeks remaining in the contest, and there are now almost 70 projects participating. Twenty of them are now on the leaderboard. So I am grateful for where Mission 51 is right now, but I am still asking for your support. Many thanks to those who have already placed their pre-order. For those of you who have not, I humbly ask that you please take a moment to consider, and then another moment to go ahead and pre-order Mission 51. I would be forever grateful! :-)

Thanks again, and Peace!

Ferd  👽

Hello all!

We are one week into the Nerdist Science Fiction contest, and Mutants: Uprising (billed as X-Men meets Call of Cthulhu) is holding steady in 2nd place. This is awesome, but other entrants are right on our heels, looking to dethrone us! Order counts are low all around right now, and YOUR preorder could make a huge difference in this contest. There are just a few more weeks in the contest.

So, what is "second person"? Usually books are written in first person (I went to the store and dropped my groceries in the parking lot) or third person (She went to the store and dropped her groceries in the parking lot). Second person puts YOU right into the action (You went to the store and dropped your groceries in the parking lot). Mutants: Uprising is written in second person present tense, immersing you in the world and giving the narrative an immediacy that you’re not going to find in another book.

I wrote up a new synopsis for the story:

Mutants: Uprising is a second person POV novel about humans with super-human abilities trying to overcome the shadowy organizations that want to control them. The story centers on Jane "Zombie" Meyers, a relatively new leader of an underground cell of the League of Mutants, a terrorist organization, who is trying to make a name for herself while rising above her enforcer roots. Along the way she uncovers a plot against the pregnant founder of a second-chance shelter for homeless mutant teens, and has to work hard to save her from harm, figure out what the ulterior motives of her enemies are, all while earning the other woman’s trust. Oh, and there are horrors from other dimensions trying to break into ours, and state governments who want to register all mutated humans "for the greater good." All in a day’s work.

Hello, 1000 Faces followers.

As I’m almost certain you’re all aware, 1000 Faces is part of the Nerdist Sci-Fi contest and is currently placed 4th. To be in with a chance of receiving Inkshares full publishing support, the book needs to place 3rd or higher. Due to the short length of the contest - it ends on June 25th - I’m going to come right out and ask you all for a big favour: please consider preordering and recommending this project to a friend. Today. Right now, even.

1000 Faces is set in a not-so-difficult to imagine near-future where the internet bubble has burst, creating an unprecedented era of paranoia as every part of the internet becomes accessible to the public. To maintain a shred of anonymity and privacy, people wear digital avatars - a mask, like a more high-quality, identity-concealing version of the photo filters we see on Snapchat and other social media. The main character, Kara Finch, is a designer of these masks for the ubiquitous MyFace corporation. She’ll find herself caught up in an attack on her companies code base, coerced into working with a new generation of cyber-terrorists and strong-armed by government snoopers. If you like Black Mirror, A Scanner Darkly, Mr Robot, or Gattaca, her story should tickle your fancy.

I’ll be sharing some draft content from the book soon. Keep your eyes on your inbox.

~ Jenny